Corn ethanol production increases 30% this harvest

In the first half of December, the production units in the Center-South region processed 8,83 million tons compared to 19,32 million in the 2023/2024 harvest – which represents a drop of 54,30%. In the accumulated period since the beginning of the 2024/2025 harvest until December 16, milling reached 611,85 million tons, compared to 639,28 million tons recorded in the same period in the previous cycle – a drop of 4,29%.

In the first half of December, 129 production units operated in the Center-South region, of which 111 units processed sugarcane, ten companies produced ethanol from corn and eight flex plants. In the same period, in the 23/24 harvest, 185 production units operated.

By the end of the first half of December, 69 units had finished milling. Since the beginning of the 2024/2025 cycle, 206 units had finished operations. In the same period of the previous harvest, 82 mills had finished milling. For the second half of December, another 39 production units reported their intention to finish the harvest.

Regarding the quality of the raw material, the level of Total Recoverable Sugars (ATR) recorded in the first half of December reached 115,92 kg of ATR per ton of sugarcane, against 118,59 kg per ton in the 2023/2024 harvest - a negative variation of 2,25%. In the accumulated harvest, the indicator marks 141,33 kg of ATR per ton (+1,23%) compared to the last cycle in the same position.

Sugar and ethanol production

Sugar production in the first 15 days of December totaled 347,82 thousand tons, a drop of 63,07% compared to the amount recorded in the same period in the 2023/2024 harvest (941,73 thousand tons). In the accumulated period since the beginning of the harvest until December 16, the production of the sweetener totaled 39,71 million tons, against 41,82 million tons in the previous cycle (-5,05%).

In the first half of December, ethanol production by the Center-South units reached 764,53 million liters, of which 498,56 million liters were hydrated ethanol (-28,18%) and 265,97 million liters were anhydrous ethanol (-24,30%). In the current agricultural cycle, biofuel production totaled 31,93 billion liters (+3,26%), of which 20,34 billion were hydrated ethanol (+10,29%) and 11,59 billion were anhydrous ethanol (-7,13%).

Of the total ethanol produced in the first half of December, 50% was produced from corn, with a production of 379,16 million liters this year, compared to 281,09 million liters in the same period of the 2023/2024 cycle – an increase of 34,89%. Since the beginning of the harvest, corn ethanol production reached 5,63 billion liters – an increase of 30,01% compared to the same period last year.

Ethanol sales

In the first half of December, ethanol sales totaled 1,38 billion liters, which represents a negative variation of 4,15% compared to the same period of the 2023/2024 harvest.

In the domestic market, the volume of hydrated ethanol sold by the Center-South units totaled 854,40 million liters, which represents a drop of 8,00% compared to the same period of the previous harvest. The sale of anhydrous ethanol, in turn, reached the mark of 498,22 million liters, an increase of 4,91%.

From the beginning of the harvest until December 16, ethanol sales by units in the Center-South totaled 25,22 billion liters, representing growth of 12,03%. The accumulated volume of hydrous ethanol sold totaled 16,30 billion liters (+21,77%), while anhydrous ethanol reached 8,92 billion liters (-2,27%).

Unica's Director of Sector Intelligence, Luciano Rodrigues, explained that “despite the lower milling, the ethanol supply was sustained by the more alcoholic production mix, by the increase in corn ethanol production, by the reduction in biofuel exports and by the stock of passage above the historical level at the beginning of the agricultural cycle”.

“The amount of ethanol in stock and the production that will still be carried out until March 2025 provide security for the supply of the domestic market, even considering the current competitiveness of hydrated ethanol and the consequent growth in sales of the product”, concluded the executive.

CBios market

Data from B3 up to December 23 indicate the issuance of 41,55 million Decarbonization Credits (CBios) in 2024 by biofuel producers. The amount of CBios available for trading held by the obligated party, non-obligated party and issuers totals 16,93 million decarbonization credits.

“Public data collected by B3 and ANP show that the amount of CBios available for sale and the credits already retired exceed the target set by the program for December 5 of this year by more than 31 million titles. Therefore, there is no restriction on the supply of decarbonization credits in the national market,” explained Rodrigues.